The Wonder Years

As usual any show showing life in the good ol' US of A from anything but a Lilly-white perspective is immediately called "too political"!

I remember watching the original series whilst still at school and wondering where all the diversity in America is? I was getting into rock, blues and jazz music and Jimi Hendrix was my hero.

This seems to a gentle comedy show about late 1960's era family life in a black middle class neighborhood in the south. But it will not shy away from showing a black perspective.

Good start, hope the characters and story live up to the premise. We shall see.

That is the question the main character Dean Williams (Elisha Williams) shouts out in church at Sunday mass much to the dismay of his parents. Little do they know that their young son Dean just got his heart broken by witnessing his two best friends kissing in the pilot episode. A-List actor Don Cheadle narrates each episode through the eyes of the series young star Dean Williams.

For those negative IMDB reviewers who just couldn't wait to knock the series on the first day the series was aired, you better be prepared to eat your words as I see a very, very bright future for this re-boot 1960's TV series as seen through the eyes of the narrator Don Cheadle, an African American who lives with his middle class family in a middle class neighborhood.

This families stories, episode after episode, will gradually reflect back on any middle aged viewers who also lived through this period (as I did) whether you are black, brown, white or yellow skinned.

As the late great John Lennon wrote, "all we are saying is give peace a chance". All I am saying, is give this 1960's re-boot TV series as seen through the eyes of a middle class African American family a chance too!

I give the series an 8 out of 10 IMDB rating. Just one last comment, I love Dean's bicycle with the high handle bars and banana seat. Now those were the "Wonder Years".

This is pretty bad, but probably seems worse than it is because it's a remake of an incredible series.

This is how to properly reboot a classic. Totally fresh take, great casting, loved the beginning narration showing that 50 years later, everything is pretty much the same. I thoroughly enjoyed this. Ignore the low rating. Definitely worth the watch.

Usually I am adamantly against remakes. So much so that I refuse to watch them. What's the point honestly? Have you seen what they've done to shows like He-Man. Knight Rider or the movie Nightmare on Elm Street? If they remake Three's Company, The Golden Girls or The Wiz (yes, it's a remake but it doesn't count) I'm jumping off the edge of the planet.

Initially I rolled my eyes over Wonder Years 2.0 but when I saw Don Cheadle in the credits I took a chance. I'm glad that I did. The Wonder Years 2.0 makes sense because it's not re-telling the same story about the same family. We are now on the other side of the city with a Black family and this changes everything. I love what they've done so far and I can't wait for them to really dig into this decade from our perspective.